RAD Studio XE7 is a must-have upgrade for all developers and is the newest version of the award winning, multi-device app development solution for Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, and now Gadgets and Wearables. There are great Windows and VCL features, a new Parallel Programming Library, significant FireMonkey enhancements for building multi-device apps, new Enterprise Mobility Services, and enhancements for connecting with the Internet of Things, thanks to the new Bluetooth support.

New features include:

Parallel Computing Library: Write multi-threaded apps more easily to take advantage of multi-core CPUs and exponentially increase performance; Boost the performance of your existing VCL and FireMonkey applications, with a self-tuning thread pool.

FireUI Multi-Device Designer: Use this revolutionary new way to build a single user interface based on a visual form designer that scales and adjusts to different types of devices, form factors, and operating systems.

InterBase Developer Edition and InterBase ToGo (in Professional edition and above) – InterBase Developer Edition provides developers with the best cross-platform database to build and test database applications for embedded and SME applications.

IBLite database for Windows, OS X, Android and iOS with free deployment license (in Professional, Enterprise, Ultimate and Architect editions) – Use this new edition of InterBase in your mobile apps and deploy free. InterBase ToGo is also available (sold separately) for developers who want a more feature rich database to embed in their apps.

Additional Tools – RAD Studio includes a comprehensive set of additional tools to help you do more than ever before:

FastReport VCL 4-RAD edition and FastReport FireMonkey Embarcadero Edition from Fast Reports so you can quickly design and generate reports

Microsoft no longer offers or supports Windows XP so we don't list it as an officially supported deployment platform but applications written with Delphi should still run well on XP. We have not done anything in Delphi to remove support for targeting XP.

Apps created RAD Studio are designed to run on Android phones and tablets: ARMv7 devices with NEON FPU support, running Android Gingerbread (2.3.3-2.7), Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0.3, 4.0.4), Jelly Bean (4.1.x, 4.2.x, 4.3.x) or KitKat (4.4.x). Compatibility may vary based on device hardware and specs. Click here for more details on the supported Android versions and devices, including devices we have tested.

All editions of RAD Studio support mobile development for Android and iOS with Delphi, C++Builder, and web-based mobile app development with HTML5 Builder.

DataSnap Mobile Connectors are available in Enterprise edition and above.

When developing for iOS, you will also need a Mac computer for development and running in the simulator. You will need an Apple Developer account to test and deploy to iOS devices. Additional details are available in the online and product documentation.

You can use an online service like MacinCloud to run OS X apps that you create with RAD Studio and you can use MacinCloud to test your Delphi iOS apps in the simulator. Access to a physical Mac machine is required for on-device testing.

FireDAC is include as part of the install. Features vary by edition with local/embedded database connectivity to select databases in Professional edition and local/embedded plus enterprise database connectivity in Enterprise edition or higher, or with purchase of the Client/Server Add-On Pack for Professional. More information is available at http://www.embarcadero.com/products/rad-studio/firedac.

Your earlier version license and the XE7 you upgrade to are considered one named user license that covers both versions. If you already own an earlier version and go to the web page and request the same version license, you will just get a re-send of your existing serial number.

The earlier versions are available in English, French, German and Japanese. For versions 2007 and later, there is a single download and you choose the language at install time. For version Delphi 7 and C++Builder 6, there are separate downloads for each localized version.

The RAD License Recharge Plan allows you to continually recharge your RAD Studio, Delphi or C++Builder license with every major release at an affordable License Recharge fee for each release. Rather than trying deciding which release to upgrade to each year, with the Recharge Plan you can now stay up-to-date with every release and all the latest new features, OS versions and new device support all year long - all for less than the price of one single annual upgrade. Learn more at http://www.embarcadero.com/products/rad-studio/recharge.

Update Subscription can be purchased at the time you purchase your RAD Studio product or upgrade. The Update Subscription agreement gives you a year of upgrades (including major and minor upgrades) and a specified number of support incidents. See the Support dropdown menu item of our web site for additional information.

With Update Subscription, you get the latest feature updates and upgrades as they are released. The mobile functionality in RAD Studio may have frequent upgrades and feature updates. Update Subscription is generally the most cost effective way to stay up-to-date with the latest versions.

Updates and additional software for RAD Studio users are available on the registered users download page at http://cc.embarcadero.com/reg/rad_studio. More major new feature upgrades are available only to users with current maintenance agreements. Notifications for those upgrades are delivered via email and the upgrades can be downloaded via the Maintenance Portal web site by following the instructions in the email.

The Academic edition can be used only for learning in an academic or classroom environment. Educational institutions cannot use the academic version to produce software for use within their institution. Academic licenses don't qualify for upgrade pricing to commercial licenses.

InterBase XE3 Developer Edition is InterBase XE3 Server licensed for up to 20 users (80 database connections). The InterBase software is automatically installed with a default install of Delphi or C++Builder in RAD Studio and licensed with your RAD Studio serial number. An InterBase ToGo developer license is also included in your RAD Studio license. You can deploy InterBase ToGo for testing purposes using the InterBase ToGo Test Deployment serial number included as part of your RAD Studio order delivery email. This is not available for Network license users.

When you're ready to deploy applications using InterBase, Embarcadero offers a variety of editions (Desktop, Server and To-Go) and a variety of licensing options (flexible server licensing, multi-packs and OEM licensing). Contact Embarcadero Sales or partners for more information. See the license terms in the Delphi license.rtf file for additional licensing details.

To obtain your free IBLite deployment license, use the IBLite serial number in your order delivery email and follow the instructions to generate a license file that you will use to distribute IBLite with your Android and iOS applications.

HTML5 Builder is a visual development environment which enables developers to build web and mobile apps. HTML5 Builder enables Corporate and ISV developers to visually create apps for Web, iOS, Android, BlackBerry and Windows Phone using a single HTML5, CSS3, PHP and JavaScript codebase. With HTML5 Builder you can build end to end data-driven applications with industry PHP back-ends. You can deploy to a device, web browser, web server or app stores and do both client and server web and mobile development.